Cedar Valley News – January 3, 2026
What the Wolf Moon Asks
By: Aisha Khalid
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.
Tonight the first full moon of 2026 rises—the Wolf Moon, a supermoon—and it does so at the precise moment when Earth, moon, and sun draw closest to one another, an alignment so rare it hasn’t occurred since 1912.
I find myself thinking about closeness. About what draws us together and what pulls us apart. About the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell each other.
The Wolf Moon gets its name from the howling of wolves in the deep of winter. But wolves don’t howl to frighten or intimidate. They howl to locate each other. To say: I am here. Where are you?
I wonder if that’s what we’re all doing, in our own ways—calling out across the cold to find each other. Not to argue. Not to persuade. Just to know we’re not alone.
A book has been making the rounds in Cedar Valley this week. The Power of Authors. The idea is simple: every person is an author, whether they know it or not. We write stories with our choices, our actions, the words we speak and the ones we don’t. We don’t need publishers or platforms. We don’t need followers or fame. We need only to recognize that what we do matters—that our choices accumulate into chapters, that our days add up to something.
This is not a new idea. The ancients knew it. The scriptures teach it. Every grandmother who ever said “actions speak louder than words” understood it instinctively.
But maybe we needed to hear it again. Maybe we needed someone to say it plainly in a world that has grown very loud and very fast and very sure that the next headline is the only thing that matters.
The moon doesn’t care about headlines. It rises on schedule, indifferent to our arguments, our anxieties, our endless scrolling. Tonight it will be larger and brighter than it has been at this moment in the calendar for over a century. Earth will be closer to the sun than at any other point this year. And for a few hours, our little corner of the solar system will be gathered tight—sun, earth, moon—in a kind of celestial closeness.
The astronomers call it perihelion and perigee. I call it a reminder.
We are not as far from each other as the noise makes us believe.
The quiet acts of kindness that never make the news. The patience offered when irritation would be easier. The forgiveness extended before it was asked for. The stranger who helps wrap a gift in a parking lot. The mother who puts down her phone to color with her daughter. The shopkeeper who writes a gentler email than the one he started.
These are not headline stories. They won’t trend. They won’t go viral.
But they are the stories that hold the world together.
The Wolf Moon asks a question tonight: What are you howling for?
Is it to be heard above the noise? To win the argument? To prove you were right?
Or is it something simpler—a call across the darkness to say: I am here. I am trying. Where are you?
I don’t know what 2026 will bring. None of us do. But I know this: the moon will keep rising, indifferent to our plans and our fears. The sun will keep burning. The earth will keep turning. And we will keep writing our stories, one choice at a time, whether we think of ourselves as authors or not.
The question is what kind of story we want to tell.
Look up tonight. The moon is close. The year is new. The pages are blank.
What will you write on them?
This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.
Want to know the full story behind Cedar Valley? Teresa, Caleb, Dan, and the community you’ve come to know in these editorials first came together in Quiet Echo: When Loud Voices Divide, Quiet Ones Bring Together. Discover how a small town found its way from fear to fellowship—one quiet act of courage at a time. Available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ME4nSs
It’s free, live, and fresh! Quiet Echo—A Cedar Valley News Podcast is live on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4nV8XsE, Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hdNHfX, YouTube: https://bit.ly/48Zfu1g , and Podcastle: https://bit.ly/4pYRstE. Every day, you can hear Cedar Valley’s editorials read aloud by the voices you’ve come to know—warm, steady, and rooted in the values we share. Step into the rhythm of our town, one short reflection at a time. Wherever you listen, you’ll feel right at home. Presented by the Publication Consultants: https://publicationconsultants.com/
Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
Release Party
Web Presence
Book Signings
Amazon Author Page
Facebook Profile and Facebook Page
Active Social Media Participation
Ebook Cards
The Great Alaska Book Fair: October 8, 2016
Costco Book Signings
eBook Cards
Benjamin Franklin Award
Jim Misko Book Signing at Barnes and Noble
Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
Active Social Media Participation
Mosquito Books has a new location in the Anchorage international airport and is available for signings with 21 days notice. Jim Misko had a signing there yesterday. His signing report included these words, “Had the best day ever at the airport . . ..”
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When he published those overseas blogs as the book The Innocents Abroad, it would become a hit. But you couldn’t find it in bookstores.
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Erin’s book, 
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